- DR Congo regime, M23 sign Doha framework as groundwork for peace but key issues remain
Source: euronews [EU]
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the M23 armed group signed a framework agreement in Doha on Saturday, setting out a structure for negotiations aimed at ending fighting in the country’s troubled east. The Doha framework comes after months of intense fighting in the North and South Kivu provinces, which escalated early this year with the M23 group capturing the regional capital, Goma, and seizing swathes of mineral-rich territory. Delegations from both sides said the document creates eight protocols that will be negotiated individually in the coming weeks. According to M23’s head negotiator Benjamin Mbonimpa, the protocols address the root causes of the conflict and must each be completed before a final peace deal can be signed.” (11/15/25)
- Trump ditches longtime ally Marjorie Taylor Greene
Source: Axios
“President Trump pulled his support for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday, ending a years-long alliance after weeks of Greene publicly breaking with her party. Greene was once considered one of Trump’s fiercest allies and a brand ambassador for the MAGA movement. But Trump accused her of veering ‘too far to the left’ and said he’d back a primary challenger ‘if the right person runs.’ … Greene has taken positions in recent weeks that have puzzled Republicans, and irritated Trump. She’s said her party has ‘no plan’ when it comes to health care. She was one of four Republican to sign a discharge petition to release the Epstein files, against Trump’s wishes. In an interview with Axios last month, she slammed Trump’s second-term agenda as ‘America Last.'” (11/15/25)
- Mexico: Thousands protest against government clashes leave 120 injured
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“At least 120 people — 100 of them police officers — have been injured in clashes during anti-government protests in Mexico City, police said. Thousands of demonstrators marched in the Mexican capital on Saturday to protest against violent crime and President Claudia Sheinbaum’s government. Sheinbaum said the marches, which also took place in other cities, had been funded by right-wing politicians who oppose her government. The rally was organised by Gen Z youth groups, drawing support from citizens protesting against high-profile killings, including the assassination just weeks ago of Uruapan Mayor Carlos Manzo — who had called for tough action against cartels. Demonstrators dismantled parts of a barrier protecting the National Palace, where Sheinbaum lives. Police protecting the compound used tear gas on the crowds.” (11/16/25)
- ProPublica: Patel Granted Polygraph Waivers to Dan Bongino and Senior FBI Staff
Source: Yahoo! News
“FBI Director Kash Patel allowed Deputy Director Dan Bongino and two other senior FBI staffers to skip standard polygraph exams, according to a Friday ProPublica report backed up by government and former bureau sources. ProPublica’s William Turton and Christopher Bing found no record of Bongino ever sitting for a polygraph, something insiders told them was ‘unprecedented.’ Instead, they found that Patel personally issued the waiver that cleared Bongino for access despite the missing exam, a step former FBI officials said they had almost never seen granted at that level. … Two other Patel-installed senior figures — congressional liaison Marshall Yates and Patel’s personal assistant Nicole Rucker — ‘did not clear their polygraph exam and were granted waivers by Patel,’ according to the report. All three ultimately received access to sensitive compartmented information (SCI), among the highest levels of classified material.” (11/14/25)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/kash-patel-granted-polygraph-waivers-192542357.html
- NC: Heightened gang activity comes to Charlotte
Source: SFGate
“Federal officials confirmed Saturday that a surge of immigration enforcement in North Carolina’s largest city has begun, as agents were seen making [abductions] in multiple locations. ‘Americans should be able to live without fear of violent criminal illegal [sic] aliens hurting them, their families, or their neighbors,’ Assistant Homeland Security Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. ‘We are surging DHS law enforcement to Charlotte to ensure Americans are safe and public safety threats are removed.’ Local officials including Mayor Vi Lyles criticized such actions, saying in a statement that they ‘are causing unnecessary fear and uncertainty.’ ‘We want people in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County to know we stand with all residents who simply want to go about their lives,’ the statement said. It was also signed by Mecklenburg County Commissioner Mark Jerrell and Charlotte-Mecklenburg school board member Stephanie Sneed.” (11/15/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/homeland-security-immigration-enforcement-21189750.php
- Iran: Regime confirms seizure of Marshall Islands-flagged tanker
Source: United Press International
“Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps confirmed Saturday that it has seized a fuel tanker bound for Singapore from the United Arab Emirates. The IRGC Navy said in a statement the Talara was carrying 30,000 tons of petrochemicals and had been monitoring it after a court ordered the ship’s seizure on Friday morning, according to IRNA, Iran’s official government news agency. … Iran has seized other tankers while often accusing them of carrying illicit cargo, intruding in Iranian waters or in retaliation for the seizure of an Iranian vessel.” (11/15/25)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2025/11/15/bc0iran-tanker-seized/7421763235788/
- Palestine: Abbas turns 90, struggles for a role in Gaza
Source: SFGate
“Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas turns 90 on Saturday, still holding authoritarian power in tiny pockets of the West Bank, but marginalized and weakened by Israel, deeply unpopular among Palestinians, and struggling for a say in a postwar Gaza Strip. The world’s second-oldest serving president (after Cameroon’s 92-year-old Paul Biya), Abbas has been in office for 20 years, and for nearly the entire time has failed to hold elections. His weakness has left Palestinians leaderless, critics say, at a time when they face an existential crisis and hopes for establishing a Palestinian state, the centerpiece of Abbas’[s] agenda, appear dimmer than ever. Palestinians say Israel’s campaign against Hamas that has decimated Gaza amounts to genocide, a view echoed by many international legal experts, organizations and other countries.” (11/15/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/world/article/palestinian-leader-abbas-turns-90-weakened-by-21189248.php
- TX: Judge denies regime’s effort to limit Tylenol marketing in the state
Source: Seattle Times
“A judge rejected for now a bid by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to bar Tylenol-maker Kenvue Inc. from marketing its over-the-counter pain medication as being safe for pregnant women within the state. After a hearing Friday, State District Judge LeAnn Rafferty denied Paxton’s request for a temporary restraining order, court records show. The attorney general sued Kenvue and its former parent Johnson & Johnson on Oct. 28, claiming they concealed the risks of autism and other disorders for children if mothers take Tylenol during pregnancy. Experts say there’s no clear connection between the use of acetaminophen (the active ingredient in Tylenol) during pregnancy and adverse neurobehavioral or developmental outcomes such as autism. Kenvue has pushed back against this link, saying the claims are unsupported by scientific evidence. Untreated fevers and pain are known risks during pregnancy.” (11/15/25)
- Chinese regime sends coast guard to Senkaku islands amid row with Japanese regime
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“China has sent its coast guard through the waters of the Senkaku islands and military drones past outlying Japanese territory as Beijing ramps up tensions over the Japanese prime minister’s remarks on Taiwan. On Sunday the Chinese coast guard said its ships made a ‘rights enforcement patrol’ through the waters of the Senkaku, which are administered by Japan but also claimed by China as the Diaoyu islands. … China and Japan have repeatedly faced off around the islands but the latest activity comes amid an intensifying diplomatic spat after the Japanese prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, told parliament that if China attack[ed] democratically ruled Taiwan it could trigger a military response from Tokyo.” (11/16/25)
- Brazil: Lula’s former human rights minister formally accused of sexual misconduct
Source: SFGate
“Brazil’s federal police formally accused President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s former human rights minister Silvio Almeida of sexual misconduct after he was fired over the allegations last year, a police official said Saturday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly speak about the case. Prosecutors will now decide whether to press charges. If they do so, the Supreme Court will either throw them out or accept them, in which case Almeida would face a trial. Local media outlets reported that police had formally accused Almeida on Friday. He has not commented since then, but has previously denied allegations of wrongdoing. Lula fired Almeida last September after MeToo Brazil, an organization that defends women victims of sexual violence, said that it had received complaints of sexual misconduct by the former minister.” (11/16/25)
- Trump issues two pardons related to Capitol riot investigation
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“United States President Donald Trump has issued two new pardons related to the investigation into the January 6, 2021 US Capitol insurrection. White House officials said on Saturday that one pardon was given to a woman convicted of threatening to shoot FBI agents who were investigating a tip that she may have been at the US Capitol. Trump issued the second pardon for a defendant who had remained behind bars despite the sweeping grant of clemency for Capitol rioters because of a separate conviction for illegally [sic] possessing firearms.” (11/15/25)
- Ukraine: Zelenskyy vows energy sector overhaul after $100 million corruption scandal
Source: BBC News [UK State Media]
“Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has vowed to ‘overhaul’ state-owned energy companies, after a major corruption scandal engulfed the country’s energy sector. Around $100 million (£76m) has been embezzled, anti-graft investigators said, causing outrage in a country where Russian attacks have resulted in crippling power outages. ‘Alongside a full audit of their financial activities, the management of these companies is to be renewed,’ Zelensky wrote in a post on X on Saturday. Energoatom, the state nuclear company at the heart of the scandal, will have a new supervisory board ‘within a week,’ he added. Several of those implicated in the scandal have close links to the Ukrainian president. The scandal is unfolding against the backdrop of escalating Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, including substations that supply electricity to nuclear power plants.” (11/15/25)
- France: Official to sue over “revisionist” remarks hailing Nazi collaborator Pétain
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“A senior French official said Saturday he would take legal action over comments made following a tribute to Philippe Pétain, France’s wartime head of state convicted of treason after World War II. … The Association to Defend the Memory of Marshal Pétain (ADMP) organised a mass Saturday at the church of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in Verdun, where Pétain won a famous WWI battle in 1916. … After the mass ADMP president Jacques Boncompain told journalists that Pétain had been ‘the first resistant fighter of France.’ Boncompain also said Pétain’s post-war conviction for treason by a High Court of Justice had not been a fair one.” [editor’s note: Why should a difference of opinion over a long-dead politician be a matter for “legal action?” – TLK] (11/15/25)
- Trump regime ends policy requiring cash payouts for flight delays, cancellations
Source: SFGate
“Just one week after the Federal Aviation Administration ordered airlines to cut up to 10% of their flights from 40 major U.S. airports, the Trump administration is scrapping a Biden-era policy that made getting refunds from airlines a lot easier. On Friday, the Department of Transportation withdrew the Airline Passenger Rights policy, which regulates compensation standards for airlines and requires cash payments when airlines are responsible for flight disruptions. A federal filing obtained by SFGATE said the move was in line with the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’s Deregulatory Agenda.'” (11/14/25)
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/trump-admin-ends-policy-requiring-cash-payouts-21187798.php
- IN: Redistricting push likely dead despite White House pressure
Source: Politico
“President Donald Trump’s effort to force mid-decade redistricting suffered a major setback Friday, after Indiana’s GOP state Senate leader declared the chamber will not convene in December to redraw maps. In response, Trump’s team has begun summoning Indiana lawmakers to meet with the president in the Oval Office as early as next week, according to two sources familiar with the request, including one who had fielded an invite over the phone Friday. … Vice President JD Vance traveled to Indiana several times and expended political capital on the Hoosier state effort, flying twice on Air Force Two here to court lawmakers, and he had welcomed Indiana lawmakers to the White House. Trump himself entertained Bray and state House Speaker Todd Huston in the Oval Office to discuss the matter in August.” (11/14/25)
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/14/indiana-redistricting-trump-vance-00652288
- The Affordability Crisis Can’t Be Advised Away
Source: The American Conservative
by W James Antle III“Conservatives have allowed libertarian rhetoric to talk themselves out of attempting to solve problems while not actually doing anything substantively libertarian. So we say ‘Don’t ask for free stuff, move instead’ while jacking up federal spending, running record deficits even during relative peace and prosperity, eroding civil liberties, waging all kinds of wars, and watching the national debt careen past $38 trillion. It is the kind of thing that makes a person think that they are taking crazy pills, as many conservatives now apparently are.” (11/15/25)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-affordability-crisis-cant-be-advised-away/
- The Heritage Foundation, Groypers, and the Narcissism of Small Differences
Source: Liberal Currents
by Victor Ray“MAGA’s favorite think tank, the Heritage Foundation, is reportedly in the midst of a conservative Civil War after Heritage president Kevin Roberts defended Tucker Carlson’s recent interview with the white supremacist Nick Fuentes. For readers not steeped in the nuances of the internet’s competing racist factions, Fuentes is a neo-Nazi podcaster and streamer …. His long march from the far-right fringe to conservative mainstream has been helped along by rising antisemitism, the movement’s increasingly-open embrace of gutter racism, and a cadre of zealous young followers whose political ideology was forged in white supremacist chat rooms (they call themselves ‘groypers’ after an alt-right meme). … Roberts attempted to thread a needle, claiming to oppose a nebulous notion of ‘cancellation’ while condemning some of Fuentes’[s] most over-the-top statements. But Fuentes’[s] open Nazism isn’t an ideological deviation.” (11/14/25)
- A Few Democrats Show They Can Count
Source: The Dispatch
by Kevin D Williamson“On one level, politics is about principles and values. At another level, it is about math. The Democrats angry about the compromise that resulted in the reopening of the federal government are confused about which level they are operating on. … Our constitutional system contains many chokepoints of different kinds — a feature, not a bug — and exploiting those is what you do, within reason, when the math is against you. Supermajority requirements empower legislative minorities, just as procedural mandates and the Bill of Rights protect minority interests outside of the legislative chamber. We do not follow strictly majoritarian conventions, nor should we: Majorities get things wrong — violently wrong, tragically wrong — all the time. That’s why the Founding Fathers so often used the word ‘democracy’ in a monitory fashion. But minority power is by nature largely obstructive in character.” (11/14/25)
https://thedispatch.com/article/congress-democrats-government-shutdown-math/
- The persuasive power of China’s consumers
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“The world’s largest shopping event, Singles’ Day, was again held Nov. 11 in China – though the online bargains began weeks earlier, as is the case with Black Friday sales in other parts of the world. This year, however, the event was not just a commercial gala. China’s annual shopping spree, which began in 2009 in earnest, no longer focuses on singles. (The date 11.11 resembles ‘bare sticks’ in Chinese, an idiom for being unhitched.) The unofficial holiday of mass consumption is now a key economic indicator: Whether or not the world’s second-largest economy will fall into a downward spiral of falling prices, or deflation. Early reports from China’s giant e-commerce firms suggest spending for Singles’ Day was not enough to trigger a rise in retail prices and thus help end more than two years of declining prices.” (11/14/25)
- On the Proposed Recission of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule
Source: Property and Environment Research Center
by staff“Implemented during the Biden administration, the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule was designed to help reduce conflict on federal lands and facilitate voluntary conservation. The rule identifies conservation as a valid ‘use’ of federal land under the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), puts conservation on an equal footing with other uses such as grazing and energy development, and — importantly — authorizes ‘conservation leases’ as a tool to support voluntary, private investment in restoring and stewarding public lands. While PERC does not support most aspects of the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule, we believe its conservation leasing provisions are worth keeping.” (11/14/25)
https://www.perc.org/2025/11/14/on-the-recission-of-the-conservation-and-landscape-health-rule/
- The Decline and Fall of the Heritage Foundation
Source: Paul Krugman
by Paul Krugman“Why did [Heritage Foundation president Kevin] Roberts weigh in on the Carlson-Fuentes controversy? He obviously felt he needed to express support for the right of conservatives to be conspiracy-theory antisemites — despite the fact that Heritage itself has an antisemitism task force. Unsurprisingly, many of the task force members have now resigned. Media reporting on this story has been excellent and revealing. However, I believe that much of the commentary misjudges the true nature of Heritage, portraying it as a genuine think tank that picked the wrong leader or was corrupted by MAGA. Because the truth is that Heritage has always been a fraud. It has always been a propaganda mill cosplaying as a research institution – a scam that worked for a long time.” (11/14/25)
https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-heritage
- Trump Takes Fire from the MAGA Right
Source: Eyes on the Right
by Damon Linker“Through Trump’s first term and extending through the immediate aftermath of the insurrectionary riot on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021, elected officials of the Republican Party would sometimes speak out harshly against him. In every case, it was figures from the GOP’s old Reaganite establishment, who would express their criticisms in the name of principles and norms that this establishment had long affirmed. In nearly every case, such defiance of Trump ended badly for the Republican officeholder. By the time Trump became his party’s nominee in 2024, expressions of opposition to him from within his own party had all but ceased. The second Trump administration has continued and even extended this obsequious passivity before the Great Leader. [Marjorie Taylor] Greene has now brought that period of reticence to an end.” (11/15/25)
https://damonlinker.substack.com/p/trump-takes-fire-from-the-maga-right
- There Are No Easy Fights In The Struggle Against The Empire
Source: Caitlin Johnstone, Rogue Journalist
by Caitlin Johnstone“There are no easy fights in the struggle against the empire. Lots of losses and no clean wins. You spend years protesting the genocide in Gaza, and you get a fake, shitty ‘ceasefire’ deal that’s just designed to shut you up while Israel continues creating hell for the Palestinians and carving off more pieces of their territory. Humanity manages to avoid nuclear conflict at the most dangerous points of the Ukraine war, but the country continues getting torn apart for years in an idiotic bloodbath that could have been easily avoided with a little diplomacy and common sense. Assange gets free, but only after he agrees to plead guilty to doing journalism, and only after years of cruel treatment have made an example of him for all the world to see.” (11/16/25)
- ICE Is Functioning Like an Occupying Army. I Know Because I Served in One.
Source: CounterPunch
by Rory Fanning“My town, located just outside of Chicago, has been crawling with ICE agents or soldiers (the terms deserve to be used interchangeably) for weeks now. Recently, two moms, in the cold with their whistles, helped guard a crew working on a roof that was damaged by hail in a recent storm. The ICE agents/soldiers, dressed in full military kit, carrying semi-automatic weapons, and wearing ski masks to hide their identity, are patrolling in unmarked trucks — I think we all know how to spot them at this point. These people remind me of the soldiers I patrolled with in Afghanistan, only the average ICE agent has less training than the average soldier. It seems like every neighborhood in the U.S. is now subject to an armed and potentially violent confrontation with federal troops. The U.S. occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan has come full circle.” (11/14/25)
- A Race for Best “Second” Place: Chile’s Presidential Election
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Sascha Hannig“Communist candidate Jeanette Jara is currently leading in all polls for Chile’s upcoming Presidential election. Scheduled for November 16, 2025, Jara, former labor minister and candidate for President Gabriel Boric’s coalition, looks likely to win, having secured about 30% of the national vote. … Even so, far from turning red, Chile appears more likely to swing right. Three conservative contenders are each vying for dominance, and one of them will almost certainly capture the presidency in a runoff and secure the remaining 60% of national support …. In a vacuum of leadership and alternatives, Jara seems to have been the unifying compromise. In other words, she is the left’s survival candidate.” (11/14/25)
https://fee.org/articles/a-race-for-best-second-place-chiles-presidential-election/
- A great nation is reduced to fanciful hoping
Source: Washington Post
by George F Will“With annual deficits approaching $2 trillion even with the economy humming, and with defense spending down to around 3 percent of GDP (above 13 percent during the Korean War; above 9 percent during peak Vietnam), what can cause sustained economic growth of at least 5 percent to cope with the debt’s growth? Artificial intelligence? A risky reliance. Revenue from the president’s perhaps unconstitutional tariffs? A net drag on the economy. A nation that used to borrow for emergencies now is mired in a perpetual emergency because it is borrowing — $2.6 trillion annually projected by 2034 — to fund current consumption of government goods and services.” (11/14/25)
- The Shutdown Isn’t the Crisis, Congressional Spending Is
Source: Town Hall
by Mark A Minnella“The media wants America to panic over another government shutdown, as if life stops when Washington is not spending money. But let us be clear from the start: the shutdown is not the crisis; Congress is the crisis. The true emergency facing this nation is not a temporary pause in government operations; it is a federal government that refuses to stop mortgaging the future of our children and grandchildren. America now owes more than $ 37 trillion, and Congress is adding roughly $ 25 billion to the debt every single day. We now pay over 1 trillion dollars a year in interest alone, more than our entire national defense budget. That is not normal. That is not sustainable. That is national betrayal. This financial disaster was not built by one political party alone.” (11/15/25)
- Strong Claims Need Strong Evidence
Source: EconLog
by Jon Murphy“[E]very once in a while, someone builds a theoretical model of a violation of the law of demand. Sometimes, they even include an investigation of one such good that seems to break the law of demand. But, upon further investigation, such examples break down, and the law of demand holds true. Strong evidence is needed for strong claims. I think of this exam question whenever I read some economic commentator claiming that international trade has weakened America. Such an outcome would be unprecedented. Millennia of experience and evidence suggest trade strengthens nations and that turning away from it weakens them.” (11/14/25)
https://www.econlib.org/econlog/strong-claims-need-strong-evidence/
- The Fading Friday Night Lights
Source: Law & Liberty
by Rachel Lu“In the ancien régime, people were famously divided into three classes: those who fight, those who pray, and those who work. That world was dissolved in a bubbling brew of revolution and Enlightenment ideals, which may be for the best, because I can’t say that serfdom particularly appeals to me. But sometimes it’s helpful to look back and consider which aspects of older societies are worth recovering. … Today, our elites work while the middle class fights. This subversion of the old system reflects both military and economic changes, along with a broader shift that prioritizes cognitive excellence over most others. Privileged young men today are likelier to find themselves leading a seminar or strategy session than a platoon. What do we lose, though, when we stop asking our most privileged classes to cultivate courage?” (11/14/25)
- Does Economic Inequality Really Worsen Pandemics?
Source: Cato Institute
by Ryan Bourne & Nathan Miller“During the 2010s, there was a raft of … shall we say, speculative research on the ills wrought by high levels of economic inequality. Concern about income disparities was the defining zeitgeist. Former President Barack Obama described inequality as the ‘defining challenge of our time’ and Pope Francis tweeted that ‘inequality is the root of social evil.’ Wide outcomes between rich and poor were not just deemed consequences of unjust economic trends, which is why Nobel Laureate Angus Deaton said we might worry about inequality. No, a raft of books and papers argued that income inequality itself could be a cause of other downstream social or economic ills.” (11/14/25)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/does-economic-inequality-really-worsen-pandemics
- Don’t Let Israel Rewrite the Narrative to Polish Its Genocide
Source: Common Dreams
by Ramzy Baroud“Israel’s allies worldwide are desperately scrambling to help Tel Aviv reestablish a convincing narrative, not only concerning the Gaza genocide, but the entire legacy of Israeli colonialism in Palestine and the Middle East. The perfect little story, built on myths and outright fabrications (that of a small nation fighting for survival amid ‘hordes of Arabs and Muslims’) is rapidly collapsing. It was a lie from the start, but the Gaza genocide has made it utterly indefensible. The harrowing details of the Israeli genocide in Gaza were more than enough for people globally to fundamentally question the Zionist narrative, particularly the racist Western trope of ‘the ‘villa in the Jungle’ used by Israel to describe its existence among the colonized population.” (11/15/25)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/israel-rewrite-genocide
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 389
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Ted Brown on running for the US Senate and his time in the Libertarian Party.” (11/14/25)
- Colleges Are Surrendering to AI
Source: Yascha Mounk
by Yascha Mounk“We are at that strange stage in the adoption curve of a revolutionary technology at which two seemingly contradictory things are true at the same time: It has become clear that artificial intelligence will transform the world. And the technology’s immediate impact is still sufficiently small that it just about remains possible to pretend that this won’t be the case. Nowhere is that more clear than on college campuses. The vast majority of assignments that were traditionally used to assess—and, more importantly, challenge — students can now easily be outsourced to ChatGPT. … For the most part, professors have responded to this problem by ignoring it.” (11/14/25)
https://yaschamounk.substack.com/p/why-ill-encourage-my-students-to
- Benevolent Self-Interest
Source: Free Association
by Sheldon Richman“Self-love, that is, concern with one’s interests, is part of our humanity. No conflict exists between making the most of the one life one lives and goodwill toward others. We are engaged in a common challenge — living — and empathy naturally flows from that fact. It is a pernicious doctrine, indeed, that holds otherwise. Clearly, a merchant or manufacturer prospers by attending to his customers’ preferences. Real liberals have always emphasized the fundamental harmony of interests in the market.” (11/14/25)
https://sheldonfreeassociation.blogspot.com/2025/11/tgif-benevolent-self-interest.html
- Netanyahu Cabinet’s Complicity in the Gaza Genocide
Source: Antiwar.com
by Dan Steinbock“The ICC has challenged Israel’s prime minister and his former defense minister for the Gaza atrocities. Several other cabinet members have contributed to these crimes. But none have been charged for these crimes. Should they be charged? Could they be charged?” (11/14/25)
- How the GOP can push true health care “affordability” and win
Source: New York Post
by Rich Lowry“The debate over affordability is now truly and fully joined. Ahead of next year’s midterms, Democrats are coalescing around a cost-of living message that makes more sense than their anti-Trump obsessions (not that we aren’t going to hear a lot about those). For its part, the White House has concluded that the affordability issue is a vulnerability, and President Trump has thrown out a raft of proposals to address it — from $2,000 tariff rebates to 50-year mortgages. Health care will be a major front in this fight, a traditional Democratic policy strength that the party emphasized during the just-concluded government shutdown. In isolation, the Democratic demand to extend Obamacare subsides in perpetuity shouldn’t be sustainable.” (11/14/25)
https://nypost.com/2025/11/13/opinion/how-the-gop-can-push-true-health-care-affordability-and-win/
- Are The Wheels Finally Falling Off MAGA?
Source: The Weekly Dish
by Andrew Sullivan“You’d have gone broke betting against the resilience of the Trump phenomenon this past decade. He has survived two impeachments, one insurrection, one plague, one lost election, one incredibly close assassination attempt, several major lawsuits, and the passionate, undying hatred of 40 percent of the country. None of it counted. He’s had, of course, some very lucky breaks: the mass migration and cultural extremism under Biden, along with the epic fuck-up of Joe’s attempt to stay in power as a near-corpse. But there are some signs that the entire MAGA operation is beginning to fray — as its manic transgressions, dumb overreach, and intensifying contradictions become harder to ignore.” (11/14/25)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/are-the-wheels-finally-falling-off-7f8
- Baltics’ big bear hug of Israel is a strategic blunder
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Edlar Mamedov“Understandably, the Baltic states were at the vanguard of a resolute response to the 2022 Russian invasion — lobbying for international sanctions, shunning diplomacy with Moscow, and even advocating for measures implying a collective responsibility of Russian citizens for the crimes committed by the country’s leadership. For example, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Kaja Kallas, the former prime minister of Estonia, pushed for blanket visa restrictions on all Russians. While Baltic state officials cite security concerns as their justification, Russian dissidents criticized the measure as counterproductive and playing right into the hands of the Kremlin. Yet, when it comes to Israel, these same principles evaporated.” (11/14/25)
- I Can’t Believe It’s Not Overkill
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Butter is made from cream, which is derived from milk. Not a new truth; it’s never been anything but. B‑but — some people are allergic! And we must protect them. Under the Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act (FALCPA) of 2004, milk is one of nine major allergens that must be explicitly declared — either in parentheses after the ingredient (e.g., ‘cream (milk)’) or in a separate ‘Contains: Milk’ statement. Which is why Costco had to recall 79,200 pounds of butter. A labeling oversight meant that perfectly good and safe butter was placed on the big box store’s shelves without the explicit warning that butter contains milk.” (11/14/25)
https://thisiscommonsense.org/2025/11/14/i-cant-believe-its-not-overkill/
- The Shutdown Cave and the Next Health Care Fight
Source: The American Prospect
by staff“Last Saturday, Bob Kuttner wrote a scoop for the Prospect that Chuck Schumer was much more involved with the allegedly rearguard action by wayward Senate Democrats to end the government shutdown. A day later, that deal was consummated. There’s been uproar about Schumer’s leadership of the Democrats in the Senate, but also a sense that Democrats might be in a decent position politically, raising the salience of health care and affordability at a time when President Trump is essentially unable to do much about it without abandoning his economic program.” (11/14/25)
- Epstein Files Reveal Elite Pivot to Control
Source: Karl Dickey’s Freedom Vanguard
by Karl Dickey“The Jeffrey Epstein story is not going away, no matter how much Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, or Donald Trump try to discount it. Strangely, the Democrats had four years to disclose the ‘Epstein Files’ yet failed to do so, and now that they are no longer in power, they want the files released to the public. Weird, right? Even weirder is how hard-core Trump, Bondi, and Patel lobbied the Biden administration for the release of the files, and right after they got in power, chose to poo-poo the whole notion with a ‘nothing to see here’ attitude. WTF is going on with the Epstein Files?” (11/14/25)
https://palmbeachexaminer.substack.com/p/epstein-files-reveal-elite-pivot
- Free Talk Live, 11/15/25
Source: Free Talk Live
“Epstein files released by House dems but not serious ones :: Caller points out AI is so good there’s no way to really know if something like a document is faked :: Trump to permit 50 year mortgages and portable mortgages :: Internet slop may push people into the real world :: Bonnie and Riley’s experiences with comparing themselves to others online :: US to go to war with Venezuela? :: Mayor of Albuquerque in favor of state-run grocery stores :: Fire departments can be run by the free market :: Turd wants men to be more like Humphrey Bogart :: Trump hard to figure out. He doesn’t make sense even to his own agenda :: Ways Trump has followed Project 2025 :: Trump blew up boats with Venezuelan kids on board :: Three reasons Mamdani’s state-run grocery stores wont work :: 2025-11-15 Hosts: Bonnie, Riley O’Bill.” (11/15/25)
- The Good Fight, 11/15/25
Source: Yascha Mounk
“William MacAskill on Effective Altruism.” (11/15/25)
- Unattended Baggage, episode 317
Source: Unattended Baggage
“Nobody knows how magnets work.” (11/15/25)
https://unattendedbaggage.substack.com/p/episode-317-nobody-knows-how-magnets
- Galaxy Brain, episode 1
Source: The Atlantic
“The Internet Is a Misery Machine.” (11/15/25)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2025/11/the-internet-is-a-misery-machine/684925
- Pink Flame of Liberty, 11/15/25
Source: Pink Flame of Liberty
“LP Chair’s Fuzzy Principles in The Parity Project.” (11/15/25)
- The Ezra Klein Show, 11/15/25
Source: New York Times
“Tucker Carlson, Nick Fuentes and the Right’s ‘Groyper’ Problem | The Ezra Klein Show.” (11/15/25)
- Anarcho Agenda, episode 145
Source: Anarcho Agenda
“I talk about institutional poverty, plus the next NYC Mayor.” (11/15/25)
https://anarchoagenda.libsyn.com/anarcho-agenda-ep-145-2025-11-25
- The Daily Blast with Greg Sargent, 11/14/25
Source: The New Republic
“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Fresh Epstein Bombshell Should Unnerve Trump.” (11/14/25)
https://newrepublic.com/article/203185/marjorie-taylor-greene-fresh-epstein-bombshell-terrify-trump
- Serious Trouble, 11/14/25
Source: Serious Trouble
“Sandwiches For All.” (11/14/25)
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2709
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“Zionism Stole Jewish Identity, with Rabbi Yaakov Shapiro.” (11/14/25)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2709-zionism-stole-jewish-identity-with-rabbi-yaakov-shapiro/
- The Discast with Andrew Sullivan, 11/14/25
Source: The Weekly Dish
“Fiona Hill On Putin’s War And Populism.” (11/14/25)
https://andrewsullivan.substack.com/p/fiona-hill-on-putins-war-and-populism
- System Update, episode 547
Source: System Update
“Q&A With Glenn: On the Epstein Emails; Chomsky’s Friendship with Epstein; Differences Between Tucker Carlson and Nick Fuentes; the Babylon Bee’s Attack on Megyn Kelly; and More.” (11/14/25)
- In the Tank Podcast, episode 519
Source: Heartland Institute
“How Do We Fix This?” (11/14/25)
https://heartland.org/podcasts/how-do-we-fix-this-in-the-tank-podcast-519/
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 11/14/25
Source: Antiwar.com
“Israel Seeks 20-Year Military Aid Deal With US, Hegseth Announces New Military Campaign, and More.” (11/14/25)